


Another Captain

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Domestic Fluff, Engineer Tony Stark, Established Relationship, F/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22932592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Tony (Chief Engineer) and Wanda (First Officer) get the news that their Captain is retiring, and soon they'll have to get used to a new Captain ofAvenger.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Another Captain

**Author's Note:**

> For Tony Stark Bingo R1-AU: Sci-Fi/Futuristic

"Hey Chief!" Wanda yelled down the Jefferies Tube. 

"Hard as it might be for you bridge officers to believe when we're not under attack," Tony called back, "but I actually am busy right now." 

"Captain wants to talk to you!" 

"He can use the comm system like everyone else!" 

Steve was the one to reply. "It's not the sort of conversation we can have over the comms, Chief. Finish up what you're doing and come here." 

Tony made a point of groaning loudly so Steve would hear him. Then, quieter, "Chief fix the resonance of the sonic showers, Chief bring the warp drive online in ten minutes, Chief have a face to face conversation. What's next? Never letting me take some R-and-R?" 

"I can hear you, you know," Steve called down the tube. 

"I know! It's kind of the point. Maybe it'll teach you respect." 

"I wouldn't count on it!" 

Wanda snickered, getting to her feet quickly outside the Jefferies Tube so Tony wouldn't see her smile. But sound echoed in these things and she wasn't that far away, so he heard her loud and clear. 

Tony sealed the changes and put the panel back on. Hopefully, no one would need the secondary backups for the replicators in the next ten minutes-- or however long this conversation was going to take. By the time he managed to crawl out of the Jefferies Tube back into the engine room, Wanda was gone. "You know Cap, it's bad form to lure me out here with the hopes of seeing my fiance, only to send her off before I can even say hello." 

"You'll see her soon, she needed to go to the Infirmary." 

Tony frowned immediately, his artificial heart skipping a beat. "Infirmary? Is she okay?" 

Steve blinked, like he hadn't meant for Tony to latch onto that part. "She's fine, annual medical exam." 

"Oh," Tony said, all the stress leaving him as quickly as it came. He didn’t have to do those since he had to go to medical every two months for a check in. "That doesn't explain why you dragged her down here and then sent her away before I could say hello, but okay. What's so important that it couldn't be talked about over the comms?" 

"Not here, in your office." 

There was an engineer's office. Tony never used it because there was no point. You know what he could have used right there instead? A storage unit for spare parts. There was nothing worse in the middle of an emergency than having to send someone to go running for the cargo bay, but he couldn't keep the parts he needed in the room anyways because they were too unstable. They walked over to the office and the door opened for them, then Steve locked it. There were two seats in the room on either side of a desk, and two consoles, one on the wall and one on the desk. 

Steve leaned against the edge of the desk, crossing his arms over his chest and looking like he was the bearer of bad news. But it couldn't be too bad of news because he already said that Wanda was alright. "Do you remember Bucky?" 

"Hard to forget." Bucky had been one of eight casualties in the Skrull Battle, the old head of security on _Avenger_ , and Steve's husband. The only reason Steve hadn't been forced to take leave was because the ship had to dock in harbor for repairs while the crew underwent psychological evaluations and therapy. By the time _Avenger_ had been cleared for duty, Steve had too. 

"They found him." 

"He's dead." 

"They _found_ him. They're sure. Confirmed by every test they have. It's him." 

"Oh. That's- I mean, wow. Steve, that's _amazing_. So you're taking some time off? Need me to promise that I won't abuse my relationship with Commander Maximoff while you're gone? I haven't had any problems while you were on medical leave, and I won't now, cross my fake heart." 

"That's good to know, but uh- it’s not- uh." 

Tony was back to frowning. Steve didn't stumble over his words-- he just didn't. "What?" 

"I'm not taking leave, I'm retiring my commission." 

"You're _what_?" 

Steve's expression turned pained. "Bucky needs more attention than I can give him when I'm commanding a ship." 

"Yeah, that's what _leave_ is for." 

"The doctors don't know if he'll get better. This might be permanent, in which case there's no point in putting off the inevitable." 

"Do you hear yourself? They don't know. It _might_ be permanent. If leave turns into retiring, then that's what it means and we'll all miss you, but right now you're talking like it's a given. And you don't have to resign to stay planetside, there are plenty of duties you can perform on Earth." 

"I'm not going back to Earth." 

Steve had never surprised him so much in a single conversation. "What?" 

"Bucky needs to be home." 

Tony closed his eyes, because this part he knew. "Luna." Luna was home for the pair of them, and there wasn't a need for any Starfleet captains there. He could always commute to Earth every day, but the lines for transporter pads tended to be long, and if there was an emergency with Bucky, he wouldn't be able to get there as quickly as he wanted. He opened his eyes again and caught the tail end of Steve's nod. 

"We're meeting up with _Shield_ in a couple weeks, Captain Danvers will be coming aboard. You know Captain Danvers, don't you? I think I saw in your file that you've worked together before." 

As if Steve didn’t have a perfect memory. "We have. We went to the Academy together, got drinks-” back before they’d both quit “-went to parties, studied… she's got a mean left hook." 

"I've heard that. Hopefully I won't have to experience it first hand." 

It was a try at their usual back and forth, but the tone was all wrong. They weren't grinning. Their postures were defeated. Tony blew out a breath and rubbed at his eyes. "It'll be nice to work under her again. That doesn't mean I'm not going to miss you like hell, Cap." 

Steve gave him a weak smile. "You'll survive just fine without me." 

"Of course I will, but that doesn't mean I want to. Give Bucky my best, yeah?" 

"Of course. You always did like him better than me." 

"He was your better half, that doesn't mean I liked him more." 

"So all the bonding over engineering was what? Performance theater?" 

Tony laughed, and Steve pulled him into a hug. 

"Thanks, Tony. For everything." He let go, and they both pretended like they weren't one more minute from crying. "I already told Wanda, so you don't have to worry about telling her." 

"You're a good man, Cap," Tony said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Am I good to go back to fixing the replicators? Or do you have further attempts to reduce me to a sobbing mess?" 

"Right," Steve said drily. "Look at you. Crying on the floor." 

"It came close, Steve. Really close." 

Steve chuckled, then straightened. He motioned to the door, his demeanor back to that of Captain. "You're free, Chief." 

"Right, like I'm supposed to be able to focus on the resonating harmonics in the replicators now." 

"You'll survive, Tony. You always do." 

* * *

The doors to their quarters slid closed, and Tony's shoulders dropped. "Wanda, you home?" he called, rubbing at his eyes. Pretending that everything was fine took a toll after a while, but until the official announcement was made, the rest of the crew needed to think that this was business as usual. 

She walked out of the bedroom with her top coat off. "It sucks that Steve's leaving," she said, no preamble. 

"Tell me about," he muttered. He gave her a quick kiss, and they both went into the bedroom to change out of their uniforms. 

"I understand why he's doing it," she continued, "but it's only been a year since we got _Avenger_ back. We finally figured out how to work as a crew again, and now he's leaving." She sighed, shaking her head. Wanda reached up and undid her hair. She ran a hand through it, and even though Tony knew it was to get rid of the tension in her scalp from having it up all day, but his immediate thought was still that it was a prelude to sex. He was a grown ass adult, but he still thought like an eighteen year old sometimes. "You've worked with Captain Danvers before, haven't you?" 

"Yeah, Carol's good. Little more laid back when she's off duty, little more of a hard ass when she's on the chair, but she's solid. After a year or two working under her, you’ll probably get that captain's promotion." 

"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Tony nodded. "Starfleet Command trusts her judgement, and the only reason she's not an Admiral is because she's too valuable as a Captain. I'm pretty sure that every promotion she suggests gets put through." 

"Then why are you a Lieutenant? Does she not like you or something?" 

"Nah, she made me a Commander." 

Wanda blinked, frozen with her arms halfway through the shirt. "You got _demoted_?" 

"Have you not heard this story?" 

"No! When would I have heard this?" 

"Oh." That's true, she'd transferred on board long after it was old news. Tony shrugged, pulling on a sleep shirt then pushing his trousers down. "I disobeyed Captain Rogers's orders and violated the Prime Directive. I'm lucky they let me stay on as Chief Engineer." 

"What did you do?" 

Tony made a face. "Got involved in a non-Federation planet's civil war." 

"Tony," she said, voice sympathetic but also like she couldn't believe he'd done that. 

"I know, alright? I got dressed down twenty different times for it, and I remember all of it. Have you ever had that many Admirals tell you how stupid you are? They can't tell a flux coupler from an anodyne capacitor, and _I'm_ the stupid one." He found the pair of pants he was looking for and pulled them on. 

"The Prime Directive isn't perfect, but c'mon, I thought you knew better than that." 

"Well I have since you've known me. Like I said, this was years ago." 

"Think Captain Danvers is going to promote you back to Commander?" 

"If she's smart, she'll leave me as a Lieutenant Commander." 

"Is she smart?" 

Tony snorted. "Guess we'll see." 

"Well, demoted or promoted, you're still my dumbass genius engineer and I love you." 

"You're so sappy," he mock-complained, but he gratefully accepted the offered kiss. 

"We're in the pre-honeymoon phase, I'm allowed to be sappy," she said with a grin, looping her arms around his neck. 


End file.
